Alibaba opens first UK data centers

Chinese tech giant Alibaba has opened two data centers in London that will provide cloud computing and artificial intelligence services to European businesses, the company announced on Monday.

Increasingly, companies around the world are scaling down in-house computing infrastructure and data storage, opting instead to use "cloud computing" where third-party providers deliver those services over the internet.

Alibaba Cloud is the biggest cloud services provider in China and the company is now making a play to capture a slice of the European market via the two new data centers in London, and another center in Frankfurt, Germany, that opened earlier this year.

Alibaba Cloud is owned by Alibaba Group, the tech company founded by Chinese entrepreneur Jack Ma.

"The arrival of Alibaba Cloud into Europe is an important milestone," said Tony Lock, an analyst at information technology consultancy Freeform Dynamics. "Not only for the company, but for the market, by providing another significant worldwide cloud option for businesses in the region."

Alibaba Cloud is the world's fifth-largest cloud provider, behind operations run by Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and IBM. In Asia, Alibaba Cloud counts several large companies among its customers, including major carrier Air Asia, electronics giant Philips, and Tokopedia, one of Indonesia's biggest online marketplaces.

"Our expansion into the United Kingdom, and, by extension, into Europe, is in direct response to the rapidly increasing demands we have seen for local facilities within the region," said Wang Yeming, general manager of Alibaba Cloud in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

In Britain, 88 percent of businesses use some form of cloud computing, up from 78 percent in 2014, according to the Cloud Industry Forum, which is also called the CIF, an industry body that promotes the adoption of cloud-based services. Around two-thirds of British businesses plan to implement new cloud computing services during the next year, the CIF says.

"We are entering an unprecedented time of change, as digital technologies disrupt entire industries and customer expectations," said Alex Hilton, chief executive of CIF. "Cloud is critical in enabling companies to cope with this change."

Alibaba said that, along with data storage and analytics, the company will provide European businesses with 24/7 support, machine learning capabilities, and network and application services.

Beyond providing standard cloud services, Alibaba will offer British partners insight into the Chinese market, according to Sean Harley, chief information officer at Ascential, a London-based marketing optimization service that uses Alibaba Cloud in China.

"Working with Alibaba Cloud has been key to our global success, and we have seen positive impacts from the easy implementation, a robust and scalable public cloud platform, and first-class customer support, especially in a complex market such as China," said Harley.